BNHA: The Next Generation: War Among Us
by AntiPsychedelic
Summary: Years into the future, all of UA's newest pro heroes have had children. But these are different times. The world is going darker. It's easier to be bad, than to be good. In a time where heroes are needed more than ever, a chilling war is about to begin that will finally push the world over the brink of madness. And Itsuno Toga, created in a lab, is the villains' key to victory.
1. Prologue: Itsuno

_**Project Z: Itsuno.**_

_This was the label across the bottom of the containment I was held in._

_I'll warn you in advance – this is going to be a really weird origin story. Then again, all the good ones are…_

. . .

They were created in a lab.

Itsuno didn't know what their exact age was supposed to be, but their body appeared to be one of a teenager. So upon creation, they were deemed fifteen years old.

The water drained around them from their containment as they stepped out, once the barrier was lowered.

Their feet padded forward on the cold floor, naked body dripping wet. It was then that they were immediately handed a shiny red bodysuit to wear by an unknown man dressed in all black, whose face it was too dark to see in this room.

Void of all emotion but curiosity, their hands slowly reached out to take the red bodysuit. With a moment's guidance, they dressed themself.

There was a full length mirror built into the wall in front of them. Itsuno stood in front, taking in their features for the first time.

Their hair, shoulder length, was frizzy. Half a vibrant green, half a vibrant purple. Their eyes were even stranger – one a bright green, and the other a striking yellow. Their skin looked deathly pale, color slowly returning to it. Their face was decorated with the lightest of freckles, scattered across the nose and cheeks area. Each time they looked into their own eyes, they seemed to dance with vibrancy.

They could feel the weakness draining from their body, overcome with power by the second.

Itsuno was guided out of the small dark room, led into an area much bigger and yet even emptier. There was one lone window, straying just a bit of natural sunlight into the dim room. They were instructed to sit, as if expected to know how to.

But miraculously, they did.

"You're wondering how you got here."

The man spoke.

"You're wondering why knowledge you can't possibly be capable of learning yet, is already pre-existing in your head. You're wondering who you are, who I am, and what you're doing here. Am I wrong?"

Itsuno slowly shook their head. They hadn't yet spoke.

"You are our creation. You are our weapon."

The man began to pace slowly back and forth in front of the child, hands folded behind his back. Itsuno still had yet to see his face.

"There is an oncoming war. We've prepared for years, and we're almost there.

But now… with you, we are almost ready. You're the key to our victory. We've been patient, waiting for this moment. When we can introduce your importance, your role, and your purpose to you."

He paused in front of them, removing the hood that covered his head.

"You can call me All For One.

And you, are Itsuno."

. . .

It was strange to understand at first.

But Itsuno now knew they were created to serve a great purpose.

This is why they were engineered in a lab, from whose DNA they did not know. They were created with what seemed like unlimited pre-existing knowledge, no need to waste time on education. But for what they made up for in intelligence, they lacked with the ability to express proper emotion.

In the following days, they were kept in that same room. They were of course fed and tended to, but their outfit did not change.

They did not see All For One again in the following days, but did get to know a man who called himself Kurogiri. It was due to Kurogiri's encouragement that Itsuno opened their mouth to speak at all. They started off with only one word, then short sentences, then progressed to speak fully. Their tone was monotonous, but not unsure.

Itsuno was instructed on how to adapt, and survive. They were tested in many fields – reading, writing, memorization, and most importantly – combat. Their fighting skills were described as impressive, to say the least. Like a perfect little machine, manufactured for their divine purpose.

Itsuno could only keep track of how much time had passed since they came into being by counting the nights that passed, through the small window in the room. It had been eight nights. The sky was pretty to watch each time the sun set, counting each star as it appeared in the sky. What else was there to do, when there were no tasks to complete, and the room around them was so eerily quiet and lonely?

Sounds came from the locks on the door behind them.

They turned away from the window, eyeing the doorknob suspiciously.

To their surprise, in walked someone they hadn't seen before.

What stood out the most – was the stranger's bold yellow eyes, a shade that matched Itsuno's left one. Her hair was light blonde, pinned up in two messy buns on either side of her head. The beige cardigan she wore seemed to be a size too big, easily hiding her hands in her long sleeves. It almost covered her navy blue skirt, just peeking out from underneath.

She grinned deviously, which only exaggerated her yellow hues' intense stare. Itsuno would probably feel uncomfortable, if their own stare wasn't just the same.

"Itsuno, darling…"

She approached. Itsuno was wary, keeping their guard up. Perhaps this was a test, and they'd need to strike.

They were right.

With no time to even blink, a knife flashed before their eyes. Itsuno raised their arm, blocking its strike. Their own arm shoved the blonde back, sliding away from their vulnerable position by the window and creating more distance between the two. They were not given a weapon for times like these, but were more than capable regardless.

"Who are you?" They dared to ask.

"I'm Toga! Himiko Toga! And you, you're a cutie!" The compliment didn't mesh well with Himiko's slashing of her knife in the air. She darted forward repeatedly, aiming to strike Itsuno's face. Time and time again, however, Itsuno ducked out of the way, blocking what they could with their arm. They were careful, not a scratch on them by the time Himiko had calmed down.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed that unique shade in your left eye? It's from me!" She gushed. "Sure, I might not be your biological mother – but why not think of me that way?"

Itsuno's confusion only increased. A Mother…? Something they'd long assumed they didn't have. Did this mean they had a Father too? Or was there even more to this story?

Itsuno and Himiko looked nothing alike, other than that yellow eye. So that couldn't be. It was obviously the result of a DNA mixture… Their biggest question now, was to find out who else's DNA was involved.

Himiko flipped her knife back up her sleeve.

"Itsuno Toga, you are beautiful." She cooed.

Itsuno was caught off guard, again, by the use of a surname for themself. Though, they didn't get the chance to bring this up before their 'Mother' started talking again.

"I mean, I've got some kids too now, but you—You're amazing! A work of art! We perfected you to the fullest, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you." Himiko went on, reaching forward to touch Itsuno's hair. They pulled back.

Himiko paused almost irritably from this, but didn't care to bring it up.

"I bet you're tired… of being cramped in this little dark room alone. Don't you wanna be out there, with us?" She asked, gesturing to the still open door. Itsuno gazed outside curiously, their eyes trailing over to the window behind Himiko almost subconsciously. The sun had already set.

"It's time, Itsuno. Come on out, see the world.

After all… you'll be fighting it in just a few days!"


	2. Chapter 1: Vision

. . .

_He was floating, that much he could tell._

_Why was he up in the air? What was all this smoke that surrounded him? He could feel the tight tingles in his throat, dying to cough it all out, but unable to._

_His eyes squinted, desperate to see around him. He felt so vulnerable – unable to move, unable to escape. He grasped frantically around him, legs kicking uselessly._

_The dark smoke parted somewhat, revealing a spine-chilling gaze of bright yellow orbs. Once their eyes locked, he couldn't look away… Entranced… Against his will…_

_The stranger's head gave the smallest of nods._

_Suddenly, he was falling. In an instant, the small amount of air he had escaped his lungs. He opened his mouth wide to scream, and yet he felt that nothing could come out no matter how hard he pushed. The air was freezing, yet burned at the same time, as he experienced descending likely to his death. All the while he couldn't look away from that piercing gaze, even as his vision blurred around them…_

A sharp pain made his head shoot right up from his desk.

"Gh!"

Genki blinked rapidly, face pale. His wide gaze met the ones of equal surprise among his peers, and a dark red blush immediately tinted his cheeks. Embarrassed, he tipped his head a bit. Though even this wouldn't escape the stare of his unamused teacher.

"Midoriya, something to add?" The seafoam green haired man raised an eyebrow quizzically.

Genki's expression turned from one of sheepish to nervousness upon the confrontation from his unfriendly professor, quickly shaking his head. "N-No, Mr. Aizawa." He apologized, unable to meet his gaze. A pro-hero who could make anyone sad just by staring at them, the son of Eraser Head and the Smile Hero, was Genki's teacher. This was just another example of how unlucky he was.

Grateful once the attention shifted away from him and back to the class discussion, Genki took a moment to exhale his shaky sigh of relief. He placed both hands back in his lap, looking down at the binder on his desk. Though his light brown eyes might've been focused on the writing in front of him, his mind was elsewhere.

Was that another dream? Or was it a vision?

As much as he would've liked to write it off as a dream, the sharp pain once it ended always gave the opposite away.

But Genki had never had a vision as scary as that one. There could never be a misinterpretation of his visions – he was sure of that, no matter how many times someone else tried to suggest that. They always happened exactly as they appeared. So among all the other things he was anxious about in life, he now had to fear plummeting to his death soon too?

The bell rang, interrupting him from his thoughts.

"Class dismissed, have a good weekend." Mr. Aizawa droned, the cheeriness of his statement not at all matching his attitude.

The students all stood, packing their things to leave. Genki fumbled to follow suit, shoving his binder and pencils into his All Might bookbag distractedly. One of his pencils clattered to the floor, almost slipping on it as he zipped up his bag. He stumbled, bending down and swiping it up.

"Genki?"

Genki rose, face to face with the source of the other voice.

"Oh! Hey Toshi." Genki relaxed when met with his brother's smile, shoving the pencil in his back pocket rather than open his bookbag again.

"Are you alright? Did you have another vision or something?" Toshi jumped straight to the point.

Genki sighed. Toshi Midoriya, the biological son of their Dad Izuku and their family friend Ochako Uraraka, was always so smart. He always knew all the answers and what to do in pretty much any situation, just like their Dad…

Genki Midoriya, the adopted son, envied that sometimes.

"Yeah, I did… But it's alright, no need to worry! Just something small and insignificant, really." Genki chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he quickly exited the classroom ahead of his brother.

Of course, he knew his brother wouldn't believe him. Genki was a terrible liar, after all. But he really didn't want to worry Toshi more than he already always did. For once, he wanted to prove he could handle something on his own without having to inconvenience Toshi or anyone else.

"Are you sure about that? I'm here for you, always. You're the one that doesn't need to worry." Toshi pointed out, catching up behind him.

Genki nodded, unable to get the memory of those piercing yellow eyes out of his mind.

"Really, it's okay… Hey, did you happen to catch the homework assignment we got today? I kinda missed it…" He laughed.

Before Toshi could answer, another student ran up and joined their stride.

"Hey, guys!"

The boys turned to see Asuka Iida beside them, beaming just as brightly as ever.

"Got any cool plans for the weekend?" She asked.

"Asuka!" Genki smiled. It was ironic how, though he was the adopted son, he was way more socially awkward than Toshi.

"I was thinkin' of hitting up the mall this weekend, wondered if you guys wanted to come." She offered with a shrug of her shoulders. Her hands rested on the straps of her pink bookbag, all but pinkies which instinctively never touched what she held. If they did, whatever it was would blast right off due to her quirk. Sometimes, things were never seen again.

"Sure." Toshi agreed, cheerfully.

Him and Asuka continued to chat as they all walked down the hallway towards the school's main doors – and like it often did, Genki's mind wandered elsewhere as he stared out the long windows beside them.

The sun would set soon, as he could tell by the orange sky. He could almost see the reflection of that stranger from his vision's yellow eyes in the setting sun. It sent chills down his spine, and he wished he could've snapped himself out of repeatedly reliving the nightmare. If only things worked that way.

He could hear sirens off in the distance… It brought back unpleasant memories.

The walk home went just as it always did. Toshi and Asuka chatted, Genki speaking up or laughing every now and again. They said goodbye to her down the block, before continuing to walk a little further into their own apartment.

"We're home!" Toshi called out, nudging the door shut behind them.

"Welcome home!" He was immediately met with Izuku's voice from the kitchen, "Dinner's nearly finished – so great timing!"

Genki could hear the TV channels changing, meaning their other Father Hitoshi was probably on the couch. Same old routine, he thought with a small smile. Familiarity always comforted him.

"How was school?" Hitoshi asked, hand ruffling through his own purple hair tiredly.

Genki shrugged and sat beside him, watching as Toshi went straight for the kitchen. He heard a faint _'C'mon, you'll ruin your dinner!_' from Izuku in the other room and chuckled.

"It was alright…" Of course, Genki chose to omit the life-threatening vision he had during class today. If he wasn't planning on telling his brother, there was no way he'd let either of his parents in on this secret either.

"You've been gone a whole week, nothing exciting happened?" Izuku always missed them when they were away in the UA dorms, his sons knew that. He entered the living room with some plates, going back to get more.

"Not unless you count Genki's mid-class visions as exciting." Toshi snorted, plopping down on the armchair beside their couch.

"Toshi—" Genki frowned.

"Did you have one today?" Hitoshi questioned, his eyes finally leaving the TV screen. Of course, he'd settled on the news.

"Yeah… But it wasn't anything worth reporting." Genki waved him off. Sometimes – no, more like _all the time _– he wished his quirk worked on command like most people's did. He knew UA training was supposed to improve that, but nothing worked so far. Visions came whenever they wanted, and there was nothing he could do about it. Honestly, if it wasn't for his recommendation from his pro-hero parents, he doubted he ever would've stepped foot in UA in the first place. His brother, on the other hand…

"Well, what was it?" Izuku asked after bringing the last of dinner in, taking his seat.

"Just… a person. Somebody I haven't met yet." Well, it wasn't a _lie,_ just not the whole picture…

"What'd this mysterious stranger look like?" Toshi teased, eyebrows wiggling.

"Uhh, green and purple hair… Yellow eyes… Kinda creepy." Genki was nervous even describing the individual, for some reason.

"Could be a new student, you'll see soon." Hitoshi suggested, ending the conversation much to Genki's relief. As true as that could be… He was nervous for whoever this person was. And hoped it really _wouldn't_ end in his own demise.

. . .

Weekends at home were always nice. Not only did Genki get to spend time with his family and relax away from school for a little while, but he had his late-night jogs to look forward to. His headphones in and his sweatpants on, these jogs always helped clear his mind.

He never jogged through the busy city streets at night, choosing the path by the beach park instead. He remembered when Izuku took him here years ago, describing all the training All Might put him through. It brought a smile to his lips, remembering one of their first bonding experiences ever. He missed that.

Genki's eyes trailed off to the side, catching sight of a shadow moving on the beach. He blinked curiously, slowing his stride. Nobody was over here this late at night, usually…

He stopped all together when he saw a faint yellow light glowing from them, almost like an aura. This place was special to him, it was somewhere he must've been thousands of times before. So protectively, he approached with hesitance.

Genki stepped off the path, slowly walking down the hill of the beach.

The person turned around, and their eyes met.

This… was not the person from his vision.

Her hair was long and the color of bright pink bubblegum. Her eyes were the yellow light he saw, illuminating outside big black scleras. Her lips were painted with a dark red lipstick, just bright enough to be seen at this time of night.

He wondered what she'd been doing here all alone, before he showed up.

Genki froze in his tracks. Only now did it register in his mind that he was probably acting a bit creepy right now.

"Uh… hey."

_Hey? Really?_ He thought dumbly to himself.

"…Hey." She responded, her voice soft but definitely more confident than his.

"Are you… Alright?" He asked.

"Yeah…?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Y-Yeah! Why do you ask?" Genki fumbled.

"Well, you're by yourself here at night. I'm assuming you're asking that 'cause I am too." She shrugged.

"Oh… Right."

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything…"

"Not really… Came here to think?" She asked.

"Yeah, sorta. I jog here every night… By myself." Genki wasn't sure why he gave this information away so easily. If she was a murderer, he'd be making this a lot easier for her right now.

"Oh. Cool." She turned away, back towards the water. A moment of silence passed as she skipped the rock in her hand, fully aware Genki was watching awkwardly beside her.

"So… What's your name?" The question left his mouth before he could process it.

"Lilah." One word. No last name.

"Lilah…" Genki repeated, almost as if he needed to hear it on his own tongue. "I'm—"

"-I should probably get going." She cut him off, tossing her last remaining rock into the water. She gave one last look back at him, as if hesitating on saying something, before deciding against further interaction. With a small wave, she jogged off.

"Oh!

Uh… Bye.."

. . .


	3. Chapter 2: Encounter

. . .

Adjusting to human interaction was strange, to say the least, for Itsuno.

Cautiously, they walked into what looked like a bar area, led by the crazy blonde lady who called herself their Mother. The floor looked dirty and unkempt, unlike the recently cleaned bar counter. There were a couple of nearly empty bottles resting on top of it, probably drank by the unfamiliar men who sat on the barstools.

The first had his black hood up, a few strands of light blue hair straying out and framing his crusty pale face. His eyes were a dark crimson red, narrow and intimidating. The male beside him wasn't any more friendly in appearance, but appeared to be way more relaxed. His eyes were a deep blue, his hair a messy black – but the purple and black burns on his face, neck and arms were what was most distinguishing. They seemed to be held together on his face by crude silver stitches, definitely unattractive.

The only person in the room Itsuno did recognize was Kurogiri, who stood behind the bar's counter. Judging the vibe in the room well, Itsuno could tell that the strangers were surprised to see them.

A moment of silence echoed through the room before the first man chose to speak up.

"What're they doing out?" He grunted, a finger pointed in Itsuno's direction. Clearly they all knew of the child's existence, at the very least.

"This is Itsuno! Aren't they a cutie?" Himiko poked their cheek.

"Again, what are they doing out?" He repeated impatiently.

"Don't be mean, Tomura-chan!" Himiko stuck her tongue out at the man with blue hair, who immediately cringed at the cutesy nickname.

"_This_ is it?" The male with the dull purple burns asked monotonously, stepping off his bar seat to get a closer look at the child.

"Uh huh! Our secret weapon!" Himiko beamed. "What a genius idea."

Tomura opened his mouth once more – prepared to make another snide comment, most likely – but was surprised instead when Itsuno cut him off.

"Why?"

The three villains paused.

"Why what?" The burned man asked.

"Why am I a 'secret weapon'? Why was I created?" Itsuno clarified.

Tomura took the remaining gulp out of his bottle, placing it back down on the bar.

"You know nothing about why you're here, do you?" He chuckled. "They didn't tell you a thing… Who's DNA runs through your veins… Why you'll throw off the enemy, and guarantee our victory. You're a pawn to us, nothing more. Only if you serve your purpose and play your part, will you get to live. So the less you know, the better. Just wait for your time to be called."

"That's not Itsuno's only purpose, meanie." Himiko huffed, "I'll also finally have the cute, little girl I always wanted."

"Don't be an idiot." The other man didn't even look at Himiko as he responded, his blue hues still focused on Itsuno.

"Heyyy." She whined. "Not you too, Dabi. You should be happy!"

"Why would I?" The man known as Dabi finally averted his eyes to her, raising an eyebrow.

The sound of a door yanking open down the hallway at the other side of the room stirred Itsuno's attention away from their antics.

"You have a daughter, y'know." The boy who was only slightly shorter than Dabi entered the room, swiping the bottle that still had liquid in it off the counter for himself. Despite his height, his features gave him away as younger. In fact, Dabi did not have burns scarring his face, they would've looked almost exactly the same.

He tipped the drink back, chugging. "I mean- She's not cute or little, but she's a girl."

"Where is she?" Dabi asked, only sounding half interested.

"Hell if I know." The male shrugged, taking what was once Dabi's seat.

Himiko gasped, as if she'd just remembered the existence of her children. "That's right, you guys haven't met Itsuno yet either! Tenma? What do you think?" She asked the opinion of her oldest son, standing behind Itsuno with both hands on their shoulders, as if she was showing off a prized possession.

"So _this_ is the lab experiment." Tenma Toga stated, rather than asked, both arms folded across his chest. He tilted his head slightly to one side with a cocky smirk, evaluating the other who only blinked at him monotonously. "How young is this kid?"

"Silly, they're only a couple years younger than you." Himiko corrected, giving Itsuno's hair a ruffle.

Itsuno barely spoke, just observing their interaction, though this wasn't something uncommon. They were extremely good at reading the vibes in the room, and more specifically reading people, even within seconds of meeting them. It was a necessary quality for them to have – in order to determine people's personalities, weaknesses, and so on. Just from this encounter alone, Itsuno could already tell Tenma was not their only child, but the star child. Himiko and Dabi probably didn't respect their children much, or give them much attention like a normal family would – whatever that was – but Itsuno suspected Tenma might have just a bit of their respect.

They wondered about Himiko and Dabi's other children, such as their mysterious daughter who they did not yet know the name of. And were those the only two kids? For some reason, they had a feeling this wasn't likely…

"So? What can they do?" Tenma asked Himiko directly, looking at the blonde while he spoke about Itsuno. As if he wasn't even addressing them.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the window behind the bar opened.

Kurogiri turned towards the opened window, blocking the intruder with his body from easily accessing the others in the room. Itsuno wasn't surprised – they'd long pegged Kurogiri's job as a sort of bodyguard. Especially with his void.

"Jeez, relax… You'd think by the _third_ time I came in this way, you would've come to expect it."

The intruder had a female voice, that much was easily identifiable.

Kurogiri stepped to the side with a sigh, revealing a female about the same height as Himiko. This was about the only thing they had in common. Her hair was a jet-black, resting down just past her chest. Her bangs were messy across her forehead, almost in her vibrant ocean blue eyes. There was a distinguishing purple burn patch on her left cheek, almost in the shape of a messy heart, which perfectly matched her burned up left hand. Colors of red, dark yellow and brown littered the burns, indicating this had to have been recent.

She was dressed in all black, with ripped dirty jeans. It was almost as if she cared about her appearance, but didn't all the same.

Sitting on the window frame, she jumped down, black combat boots with small silver spikes hitting the ground as she landed.

Tenma only rolled his eyes as she stood in front of him. Itsuno sensed a type of rivalry between the two of them.

"Who's this?" The girl evaluated Itsuno who stood just inches away from her. Her blue eyes worked the same as Tenma's golden yellow ones, almost entrancing and difficult to pull away from. Itsuno noted how they even held themselves similarly in posture, arms folded across both their chests in similar fashions. Was this an attempt at intimidation? Or did they normally just carry themselves so reserved?

"_This_ is Itsuno! Think of them as your newest sibling." Himiko declared, met by her daughter's scoff.

"You're the famous Itsuno, huh?" She was the first in the room, Itsuno noticed, to treat them like a person rather than an art project. To look at, and speak to them, directly.

"Yes." Was their reply.

"You've only been around for almost a couple weeks, right?"

"Yes."

"So you have no idea the years everyone's spent getting ready for you, huh?"

"Yes."

"Huh."

What a weird conversation.

"Akuhei." Dabi spoke.

The girl turned towards her Father's voice.

"Where have you been?" He asked, sounding more like a demand than a question.

"Nowhere." Akuhei answered vaguely. Clearly, she wanted her whereabouts to remain hidden. But Itsuno had a feeling Dabi was smarter than that.

"You're always getting up to something – all day every day out there." Himiko scolded.

Akuhei only rolled her eyes in response, heading for the fridge behind the bar.

"And don't think I don't notice all the new clothes you're getting, too! Where's that money coming from?" Himiko continued, eyes following her daughter.

"Don't worry about it." Was Akuhei's only response, bending over to dig around inside. She came back up with a bottle of beer in hand, popping it open against the side of the fridge.

"Questionable beverage choice." Kurogiri commented.

"Whoops. Sorry. Can I have this?" She deadpanned, obviously not caring one way or another.

"I don't care what you do." Dabi answered, not even bothering to look in her direction as she sat beside her brother.

"So. What's its quirk?" Tenma shifted everyone's attention back on himself, as per usual, gesturing towards Itsuno.

"They're not an 'it', they're a person!" Himiko replied incredulously.

"I have not mastered my abilities yet." Itsuno answered on their own behalf. "Though I've been told I have an extraordinary mind. So I assume it's something to do with that…"

"Well, you'd better figure it out soon, kid." Tomura spoke up for the first time in awhile, obvious distaste on his face from the new crowd in the room. He gave an unamused glance towards Akuhei's snicker as he stood, aimlessly scratching at the side of his neck. He walked towards the hallway Tenma emerged from earlier, followed by Kurogiri without even having to ask.

"My patience with waiting is running thin."

. . .

That interaction lingered in Itsuno's mind, even after they returned to their room for the night.

They laid awake for hours on that cold floor, eyes gazing mindlessly out the window. Their thoughts wandered beyond whatever view they were able to see.

Itsuno thought they'd been through preparation before, but the real rigorous training was only about to begin. They needed to be strong. Ready. On their guard. These were all things that were repeated to them by pretty much every person they came into contact with.

The stares of Tenma and Akuhei from earlier were impossible to erase from their mind, every time they even attempted to close their eyes. So chilling. Those stares would've made any normal person rest uneasy, so it wasn't surprising to think it could at least last in the mind of the monotonous Itsuno.

They wondered why they were so robotic in emotion, as compared to someone like Himiko, who seemed so animated and loud. Or someone like Akuhei, who was able to chuckle. Or even irritance, like the kind Tomura displayed. Itsuno thought of themselves even more stoic than how Dabi appeared to be.

There was a feeling that weighed heavily on their heart, most prominent when they thought about this observation. However, they couldn't quite put their finger on why.

The turning of locks behind them stirred them from their thoughts.

Defensively, they sat right up. They pulled their knees to their chest and used that to propel themselves up to stand, aiming to keep a distance between them and whoever was at the door.

With only time to take a small step back, the door was now open.

Across the room, in the doorway, they were face to face from a short, blonde boy.

He had choppy, golden blonde hair, with bright blue eyes. He wore a school boy's uniform, black with white cuffs and buttons. There was a small, ominous smile on the boy's lips, but after the company Itsuno had interacted with only hours prior, nothing surprised them anymore.

He didn't waste his time at all, striding eagerly right on into Itsuno's room.

"You're Itsuno, right? The kid Mr. All For One created? Oh- and Mom helped, right?" He asked questions giddily that he seemed to already know the answers to.

"I'm Hisoka! Hisoka Toga!" He jumped right in front of a wide eyed Itsuno, throwing his arms out around them for a hug.

This hug never happened.

Immediately jumping to the conclusion that Hisoka meant to test or harm them, Itsuno sprang to action. They grabbed ahold of the boy's arm, and – surprising both of them with their sudden burst of strength – completely flipped him over them and onto the ground behind.

Hisoka landed on his back, with a whine of disappointment rather than pain.

"Owww… Why, Itsuno?" He pouted, rolling over onto his stomach. "It's called a hug, not an attack." He rested his elbows on the floor, chin in hands.

"Each time someone has entered this room, I've been tested on my reflexes almost immediately. I apologize." Itsuno replied, taking a hesitant seat in front of him.

Hisoka shrugged it off, his feet kicking lightly up in the air behind him.

"Heard you met my big bro and sis earlier." He commented.

"Yes…" Itsuno paused. "You don't really behave like them."

"Mhm! You're not the first to say that." Hisoka pointed out, rather proudly. "I'm different… But Mom likes that. I'm unique. They're both intimidating and scary. I'm just cute." He grinned, little fangs poking out more prominently than his two siblings'.

Itsuno nodded, taking in his attitude and appearance. He only looked about thirteen or fourteen, but noticeably younger than Tenma and Akuhei. It was apparent by Hisoka's behavior that he must've had his Mother's affection. And judging by Dabi's approving look towards his eldest son Tenma earlier, Itsuno wondered where that left Akuhei.

Then again, judging by their dominant and independent personalities, Itsuno had to question whether they really cared.

As time passed, Itsuno found their social skills increasing comfortably. They were actually able to engage in conversation, and even got a laugh out of Hisoka every now and then. By the time the male skipped out of their room, they felt better about a lot of things. Able to relax and rest for the night.

Both hands resting on their chest, Itsuno laid back down and gazed out the window, until their eyelids became too heavy to hold open anymore.


End file.
